By Mia Ingui
Opinions Editor
Members of Kappa Pi, the College’s honors art fraternity, showcased their take on art media outside of their respective specialty in an art exhibition called “Duality.”
“‘Duality’ is meant to show that each artist is well-rounded,” said Megan Hyjack, a sophomore graphic design major. “We can do so much more than what people expect.”
The “Duality” exhibition officially opened on Jan. 26 and closed on Sunday, Feb. 12 to showcase the College’s art department through the work of various talented art students.
The exhibit features two pieces from each of the 11 artists, one of the medium they specialize in and another they experimented with for the exhibit.
Hyjack has two pieces in the gallery: four photo prints called “Music in Lights,” which are four close up shots of various instruments in low-lighting, lit only by string lights wrapped around them, and a colorful graphic design piece made in Adobe Illustrator and InDesign called “iFont,” which is a collection of faux-iPod ads that tell the story of the font Myriad.
“(‘iFont’ was inspired by) the study of the font Myriad, which was used as Apple’s primary font for their iPod ads in the 2000s,” Hyjack said. “The entire book was developed along the lines of the old iPod ads to suit the font and have a nostalgic effect for the viewer.”
For her “Music in Lights” project, she said the inspiration came from an assignment for her photography class in which they had to photograph something beautiful.
“Since music and Christmas are two things that are beautiful to me, I wrapped instruments in string lights to create an effect that was truly beautiful,” Hyjack said.
All of the Kappa Pi members developed innovative pieces for this gallery, including Rob Birnbohm, a junior graphic design major and a cartoonist for The Signal.
His piece entitled “Brushes” was an absurdist video that redefined the use of a hairbrush, played on a loop projected onto a wall in the gallery. His second piece “Modest Mouse Zeitgeist Image,” inspired by Birnbohm’s favorite band, Modest Mouse, is an 11x17 print of a paper airplane flying through a hand made on Adobe Illustrator.
“The image depicts a paper airplane traveling through the air and through a hole in the middle of a hand,” said Birnborm. “This image was to represent the themes in Modest Mouse's lyrics, such as the fatal flaws of humanity.”
Emily Vogel, a senior art education major, had original pieces among the most interesting, as “untitled” was a collection of items housed in insulation and “abstract figure #7” was created from charcoal and rubber cement.
Angela Rossi, a junior art education major, had two thought-provoking pieces in the exhibition, one entitled “For Mom,” which is a line of cigarettes on the wall, and “Yellow,” a 19x25 drawing with yellow conte crayon on toned paper.
Ashley Swiderski, a junior art education major, went with 4D projects, “14 Feet” which is knit yarn emitting from the wall, and “Cracks,” a complication of broken ceramic cups and mugs.
“We produce work to represent TCNJ as a school and their art program,” Hyjack said. “We love to make a difference in our community through art. We support each other and really came together as artists for this show.”
